This Apollo 12 commemorative medal was designed by the Italian sculptor, Constantino Affer. Affer's choices to depict the Apollo 12 mission in high relief with a prominent artist's signature signal this piece's place as a piece of medallic art, an art form that came into its own with the Apollo program.
Apollo 12 was launched on November 14, 1969, and returned to Earth eight days later. It was the sixth human spaceflight and the second lunar landing in the Apollo program. Charles Conrad, Jr., Richard Gordon, Jr., and Alan Bean were the astronauts.
Coin and medal collector Thomas Becker gave this medal to the National Collection in 1972.
This object is on display in James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.